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He was asked by London Ukip MEP Gerard Batten whether it would be legal for the Prime Minister to ban the payment of child benefit to youngsters outside the UK.

Mr Faull said: "The child benefit issue is one that is certainly being discussed. The current situation is that child benefit is paid to workers by the state in which the worker is working.

"The question has arisen 'what happens if the worker has children in another country' and therefore a co-ordination system has been created by EU law. "EU law says nothing about what levels of child benefit should be paid, that is a matter for each country but we have to co-ordinate the cross-border situations which arise.

"There are workers who, for various reasons, are not living in the same place as their children. "I don't know where it will come out but one of the issues being discussed is whether some weighting factor could be applied so that the country where the worker lives would take into account some yardstick reflecting raising the cost of a child where the child is.

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David Cameron has called for a ban on child payments for migrants with overseas families

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Jonathon Faull has said the issue needs discussion

The child benefit issue is one that is certainly being discussed

Jonathon Faull

"That is one of the issues under discussion, there is understanding that this is an issue which deserves consideration."

During the meeting, Mr Faull also refused to speculate about the prospect of the UK quitting the EU following the in-or-out referendum promised by Mr Cameron.

"I literally cannot speculate on what might happen if Brexit occurs because I don't know, and frankly I don't think anybody knows - because it would depend on the circumstances and the subsequent discussions after that happens," he said.

"It hasn't been done before and I don't think any speculation at this stage can be particularly helpful."

He said officials were not "considering any speculation about the consequences of a member state leaving the union" and added "that is not the commission's responsibility".

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Mr Faull refused to speculate on an Brexit

At the meeting in Brussels, Ukip leader Nigel Farage told him: "You can say it's not the commission's job, but it has to be someone's job in these institutions to prepare for what is increasingly looking like it could be a Brexit."

He said the position of refusing to consider Brexit meant "there is no plan B".

The Prime Minister hopes to secure a deal on his reform agenda at the European Council summit in February, paving the way for the referendum.

Mr Faull said Mr Cameron's demands were "all difficult, there are no doubt political issues arising from them and there are certainly legal issues arising from them".